


Penny For Your Thoughts

by Highly_Illogical



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Pining, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 01:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10843761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highly_Illogical/pseuds/Highly_Illogical
Summary: With a Legilimens for a sister, it's hard to pretend you're not thinking about a certain someone.





	Penny For Your Thoughts

_I see you._

When 1926 comes and goes, your first thought as the clock strikes midnight is for him.

_I see you._

When you spot a flash of blue in the crowd, your step falters, and it’s no use pretending otherwise.

_I see you._

When an owl taps the window, your heart beats faster, only to plummet beneath your feet the moment you see it isn’t him.

_I see you._

When spring cleaning unearths your old school things, the word ‘Thunderbird’ brings flashes of majestic golden feathers and promises not yet kept.

_I see you._

When the letters stop coming altogether and Leta’s smiling face from the photograph turns cruel and mocking in your dreams, leaving a trail of insecurities lingering in the morning, I know it’s time to take matters into my own hands.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

A quiet snort of humorless laughter is your only response, and your mind screams at me in confused, angry snatches of _as if you didn’t know_ and _ridiculous_ and _none of your business_ and _don’t play games with me_ and _stay out of my head_.

So I wait. Sometimes silence works best of all.

“He promised.” And suddenly, we’re children again, and Pa promised a pretty new toy and never had time to deliver.

“I know.” I wrap my arms around you in a silent hug as you stare unseeingly at the bustling city street outside, your thoughts an ocean away.

“You don’t think…?” Your voice betrays you, but there’s no need to finish the sentence.

“He hasn’t forgotten you.”

This time, your _how do you know?_ is entirely silent, but between the two of us, words are a waste of breath.

“I saw him, Teenie,” I reply to your unspoken plea. And that’s exactly how I know.

_I saw him._

So British at heart that even his inner voice has the same rich cadence as the one coming out of his mouth.

_I saw him._

Old hurts hiding behind hasty barriers that come crashing down like a house of cards at my touch.

_I saw him._

Unexpected friendships warming his heart like incoming spring, and the tiny, timid hope of something more peeking out like the first flower braving the snow.

_I saw him._

A traveler who’s seen every remote corner of the world, but so, so innocent, never even touched by the foreign idea of a girl in every port. But still…

“And if he has forgotten you, I’ll hunt him down and remind him with a good hex or two. No one hurts my sister and gets away with it.”

That gets me a watery smile for my trouble, the first in too long a time. I don’t know how long we stand there, bodies pressed close together in silent comfort like we used to when we were kids, but it’s as long as you need, and that’s good enough for me.

What finally has us scooting away from the window is a dark speck in the sky barreling straight towards us, bigger and bigger – and unmistakably feathery – as it draws closer.

I hurry to let it in, indulging in memories of many an afternoon in Grandpa’s owlery, and I hear your breathless conclusion half a second before my own—the poor thing’s exhausted, too feeble and windswept to have come from anywhere near here. One look at the handwriting on the envelope is all it takes.

“I think it’s for you.”

Chiding thoughts of _get a grip_ and _stop being stupid_ cycle through your head as shaking hands struggle to take the message, but that’s what sisters are for—to steady each other. Parchment rustles in your disbelieving fingers, and for a long moment, you just hold it without reading it, making sure it’s real.

One of the perks of being a Legilimens is that I know exactly when the next ship from Southampton is coming before you say it out loud.

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of a departure from my usual style.  
> This story is literally just an excuse for Queenie to use the idiom, it had been in my head for ages.  
> Big thanks to my friend Cuddles for the inspiration!


End file.
